The Farm.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IX, Issue 433, 29 July 1881, Page 25

The Farm.

The part lately published of the journal of the Koyal Agricultural Society of England contains useful papers on subjects connected with farming. Among these is one on the principles of horse-shoeing by that well-known writer, Mr. George Fleming, F.8.C.V,8., and Army Veterinary Inspector. The clear and practical manner in which the subject is treated by Mr. Fleming, without either advocating newfangled and far-fetched theories or rejecting improvements which experience has approved of, induces us (Dublin Freeman) to select from it those parts which may be useful to our readers, and, in giving^ an abstract of them, to dwell on the principal faults of modern farriery with the object of induoing their correction among those most immediately interested. Mr. Fleming commences by remarking the necessity under ordinary circumstances of affording artificial protection to the foot of the hard-worked horse. He does not notice the controversy some time since carried on in the Press on this point. It has been maintained that it is possible gradually to accastom the foot of a sound young horse to do without shoes altogether, just as human beings accustomed to go barefoot can undeitake after some practice long journies without shoes. But men have a much less burden to cany in proportion to their strength, neither have they extra weight to drag or bear on long journey^ "£» the same extent as the horse. The quebtion, however, is not o!Le that on our hard, macadmised roads, and with heavy loads and established system of shoeing, can ever become experimentally determinable, and we, therefore, with Mr. Fleming, leave it on one side. He, however, remarks, "In a state of nature, and when not compelled to travel more or less continuously upon hard, rugged ground, the horny case of the horse's foot is ample protection, and the growth of horn is sufficient — sometimes more than sufficient— to meet the demands of wear. With some breeds of horses the horn-hoof is naturally dense and tough, and the growth rapid. This characteristic is more especially noted in hot, dry climates, with rocky or sandy ground, and in these the hooves are long, narrow, and concave in the sole. In such countries horses can often perform a fair amount of work without any protection to their feet. In temperate and northern climates, however, where there is more or less moisture, and the ground is soft, horses' hoofs are more inclined to be expanded and the soles flat, while the horn itself has much less tenacity and density, and soon wears away when the animals travel considerable distances, especially on stony ground or artificial roads." It is well known tbat while horses with narrow perpendicular hoofs are more subject, when the feet are not kept in good order by regular exercise, to the attacks of nayicular disease ; those with flat sloping hoofs are on the other hand liable to contract founder, and that the former shape is acknowledged to indicate general strength and soundness in the foot. The frequency with which unshod horses are used in South Africa is explained by Mr. Fleming from the fact that horseshoers are scarce, rather than by any preference for employing horses in this condition, and the rapid adoption by the Japanese of iron shoes instead of their own straw slippers is brought forward as a further proof of the usefulness of the former invention. Mr. Fleming considers the art of shoeing to have been practically perfected in the most ancient times, and that any modifications it has undergone during the last few centuries have not been to the advantage of either horse or owner. The worst of -chese modifications were adopted in consequence of the theory that " the hoof expanded and contracted at the sides, while the sole ascended and descended every time the foot was placed on the ground and raised again." This notion Mr. Fleming considers erroneous, the hoof acting merely as a protection for the sensitive parts of the foot, as the cranium does to the brain or the leather sole to the human foot. Accordingly, our author sees no necessity for mutilating the natural covering of the foot, cutting away portions of the frog and sole, and, in fact, shaping the hoof for the shoe, rather than the shoe for the hoof. He decidedly decries the use of the drawing-knife, of the red-hot shoe, and other similar appliances, a slight rasping or filing being, in his opinion, quite sufficient, and even that never on the sides or front of the hoof. In short, the efforts of the farrier should be confined to affording protection to the foot of the horse, without any attempt to modify its shape. In this we quite agree with Mr. Fleming, as will every Person of sense, not imbued with the prejudices of country smiths. Joi course, we speak of healthy, unspoiled hoofs, for relief from r suffering evidently requires the adoption of modifications of the above principles in the case of lame horses. Mr. Fleming gives in the following wards a short and lucid description of the horse's foot, a thing necessary to be understood, in order to comprehend the principles on which the animal should be shod : — " In order to understand the general principles of shoeing, a glance at the different parts of the hoof i 3 necessary. The wall is that portion which surrounds the foot, and is'alone seen when this is placed on the ground. It is fibrous in structure, the fibres passing from above to below, as they grow from where the skin terminates. Externally the fibres are dense and resisting, but those nearer the interior gradually become soft and spongy. The growth, of the wall is indefinite, it being the part which has to sustain wear through contact with the ground. When the foot is lifted the sole and frog are seen on its lower or ground surface. The sole is usually more or less concave in a bealtby foot. It is fibrous, like the wall, its fibres passing in the same direction ; but they are much softer, and their growth is definite, they breaking off in the form of flakes when they have reached a certain length. The frog is a triangular mass of 'somewhat soft and elastic fibrous hora, situated at the posterior part of the sole. Like that part, its fibres are also of definite growth, and flake off in large patches from time to time. The wall sustains wear and tear on all tinds of ground ; the sole is adapted for sustaining wright on soft ground more particularly ; while the frog has a most important use in acting as a cushion to support the powerful tendon which flexes the limb, in diminishing jar, and in preventing slipping.

The unpared sole and frog of the healthy foot need no protection on any land of soil. The flakes or loose horn on the former serre a very useful purpose in retaining moisture, and so keeping the solid horn beneath soft and elastic, while they act as so many springs when the foot is placed on projecting stones. The more the frog is exposed to wear, so the larger and sounder it grows, and the better it is for the entire foot and limb. The fore-foot is of more importance in the matter of shoeing than the hind one, inasmuch as it has to support much more weight, and is consequently more exposed to disease and injury. The fore-foot, when •well formed, is nearly, if not quite, circular ; the hind-foot is somewhat oval, the frog smaller, and the sole more concave." From the foregoing, Mr. Fleming argues againßt meddling with the sole or frog, as their growth is limited, or with the Bide or front of the wall, the only thing requisite being t* prevent its inconvenient growth downward. He also objects to heavy horse shoes and to calks, as unnecessarily adding to the labour of the horse without affording any additional protection. Shoes should therefore be as light as is compatible with the wear demanded from them. Except for very heavy dray horses the shoes should have the lower or ground surface concave, with six or seven nails in the fore-shoes and eight in the hind ones. In re-shoeing, all that iB necessary as a preparation of the foot is the removal of the excess in growth of the wall by means of a rasp applied to the lower margin or sole edge, the amount to be removed depending on the growth, and care being taken to keep both sides of the foot to the same height to prevent undue strain or pressure on the muscles and sinews of one side of the limb. The shoe is to fit full all round the circumference, and project slightly behind the heels. Mr. Fleming sums up the faults of horse-shoeing as follows :—: — " Ist. Paring of the sole and frog. 2. Applying shoes too heavy and of a faulty shape. 3. Employing too many or too large nails. 4. Applying shoes too small, and removing the wall of the hoofs to make the feet fit the shoes. 5. Basping the front of the hoof." The giving of a concave ground surface to the shoes, and allowing the frog to come to the ground, ought to do away with the necessity for calks or cogs. By adopting these precautions, a little better grip is given to i the ground, stones have no place to lodge in, and in snow " balling " is prevented. A skilful smith should be able to fit shoes cold, thus obviating the burning process bo common in forges.

Some years ago a farmer of Tomkins County, New York, discovered a means of obviating the injury always done to butter in working it to get the buttermilk out, and, as many another dairyman and farmer has done when he has made some improvements, used it in his own business without even thinking how much good it would effect if other buttermakers knew it as well as himself. In churning, he found as his butter was coming and about ready to gather, that if at short intervals, he put cold water enough into the churn to reduce its contents to 54deg., or thereabouts, the butter would gather in granules the size of peas, or smaller, and that they were perfectly solid globes of butter, without a particle of buttermilk inside of them. All he had to do was to rinse the butter two or three times and it was ready without any working to receive the salt. By avoiding all injury to the grain of his butter this process so improved it in flavor, keeping, and color, that it rose at once from common to finest gilt-edged. — Express. There are two sorts of cotton-seed cake, viz., the undecorticated cotton-cake with the husks in it, and the decorticated cake from which they are removed. The former is not a safe food to give farm animals unless in very minute quantities, well broken up, and mixed with feeding. The husks in it so irritate the coat of the stomach and intestines as often to cause inflammation. Decorticated cotton-seed cake is good feeding for milch cows, young bulls, and sheep. It should at first be given only in small quantities, and mixed with other food till the stomach gets accustomed to it. In all cases it should be well broken up and mixed with other feeding of a starchy or oily character, as, containing as it does so much fLesh-forming or nitrogenous matter, it is rather indigestible without a due admixture of fat-forming matter to balance this. In fact, it is too nutritious by itself, and requires a kind of weakening or dilution. If too much of it is given to milch cows it spoils the taste of the butter. Of all feeding-stuffs it is that which most enriches the pasture where it is consumed. Mixed with palm-nut meal and made into a mucilage, or mixed with Indian meal and boiled it is a very economical feeding. As supplementary feeding on grass, to improve both sheep and pasture, use at first a daily, rising by degrees to £lb, mixed with other feeding as described. It should be given in troughs. Undecorticated cotton-seed cake has been broken up and mixed with liquid manure for application at the roots of cabbages with good effect. In this case a little gypsum is generally added. A well-bred two-year-old horse about two months ago got, a swelling on the front of the fetlock joint of both his hind legs. It is about four inches in circumference and one in diameter, and does not extend round the leg. It has not increased since first noticed, and does not seem to cause pain or lameness. The swelling came while on grass, and he is also on grass at present. There must have been a slight strain which, acting on the debility in the system, occasioned the swelling. Foment, and having dried the place, bandage the legs. Then give a dose of linseed oil and some gentle exercise. After a day or two, instead of the fomentations, a liniment may be applied and the bandage wetted with it. A little ground oak bark should be mixed daily with a small feed of bruised oats, which should be given to the horse in addition to the grass, and twice a week he should get a bran mash with a little salt and 1 dr. of sulphurate of iron mixed through it, Do not give violent exercise or on hard ground. A three-year-old colt which, having worked through the spring, is now out on the grass is infested with vermin. Feed the colt with something additional besides grass. Give him also a dose of linseed oil. Get some oil two-thirds part linseed or train oil, and one-third paraffin, and rub it into his skin all over him with a coarse flannel or a paintrr's brush. In about four hours wash it off with a lather of soft soap and water, finishing by rinsing with cold water, and rubbing dry. Kepeat this every second day for a week. Afterwards give a few bran mashes with loz of gulpfcux in each*